"" (; "Freedom") is the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

. Adopted upon independence in 1958, it was arranged by Fodéba Keïta and is based on the melody of a Maninka praise song by Korofo Moussa for 19th-century

Fouta Djallon Fouta Djallon (, , ; ) is a Highland (geography), highland region in the center of Guinea, roughly corresponding with Middle Guinea, in West Africa. Etymology The Fulani people call the region Fouta Jallon Kingdom, Fuuta-Jaloo ( ) in the Pular l ...

king Alpha Yayo Diallo.

History

Korofo Moussa's song

The music of the anthem is derived from a praise song for the late-1800s king of

Labé Labé ( Pular: 𞤂𞤢𞤦𞤫) is the main city and administrative capital of the Fouta Djallon region of Guinea. It has a population of about 200,000. It is the second largest city in the country after the capital Conakry in terms of economic i ...

, in

, Alpha Yaya Diallo (or Alfa Yaya). Alpha Yaya is, along with

Wassoulou Empire The Samorian state, also referred to as the Wassoulou empire, Ouassalou empire, Mandinka empire or Samory's empire, was a short-lived West African state that existed from roughly 1878 until 1898, although dates vary from source to source. It span ...

founder

Samory Touré Samori Ture ( – June 2, 1900), also known as Samori Toure, Samory Touré, or Almamy Samore Lafiya Toure, was a Mandinka people, Malinke and a Soninke people, Soninke Muslim cleric, military strategist, and founder of the Wassoulou Empire, an Is ...

, considered central by Guineans to the foundation of the modern Guinean nation, in part because of his fierce attempts to resist colonisation. In 1904, Alpha Yaya was one of many traditional chiefs and kings summoned to a doctrinal conference with French colonists, who were still in the process of consolidating his territory. The chiefs each brought along a retinue for the journey; in Alpha Yaya's retinue was

griot A griot (; ; Manding languages, Manding: or (in N'Ko script, N'Ko: , or in French spelling); also spelt Djali; or / ; ) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician. Griots are masters of communicatin ...

Korofo Moussa, from Kissidougou in the south of the country. Alpha Yaya arrived to the conference on its sixth day, and Korofo Moussa is said to have spontaneously improvised, along with his troupe of dancers and kora players, a praise song for Alpha Yaya after he arrived. The song began with the line "" ("Alpha Yaya, mansas (kings) are not the same"). According to Fodéba Isto Keira, former Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, the performance took place in the building of the modern Directorate of the Judicial Police in the

Kaloum Kaloum is an urban sub-prefecture in the Conakry Region of Guinea and one of five in the capital Conakry. Kaloum includes the city centre of Conakry. As of 2014 it had a population of 62,675 people. The seat of Government is located in Kaloum ...

sub-prefecture A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several districts, sometimes translated as subprefectures. ...

Conakry Conakry ( , ; ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its population as of the 2014 Guinea census was 1,660,973. The current population of C ...

. Korofo Moussa's

air An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

quickly became popular; it was sung and played by all the griots for the rest of the conference, and within a few days it was known throughout Conakry. Alpha Yaya's personal griot immediately trained to play the song. Upon the return of the kings and their retinues to their regions, it spread throughout the country.

Modern anthem

Upon approaching independence in 1958, the lyrics of Korofo Moussa's song were reworked and written in French by artist, choreographer and politician Fodéba Keïta and Jean Cellier for the national anthem of Guinea. Korofo Moussa's melody was retained for the anthem. According to Keira, Keïta used the

solfège In music, solfège (British English or American English , ) or solfeggio (; ), also called sol-fa, solfa, solfeo, among many names, is a mnemonic used in teaching aural skills, Pitch (music), pitch and sight-reading of Western classical music, W ...

method when working with the music. Keira stated that the national anthem had to be inspired by something from

for the sake of avoiding frustrations and preserving national unity. The anthem was adopted upon independence on 2 October 1958 and included in article 1 of the constitution of 10 November 1958. A translation of the anthem into Maninka was made by Djeli Mamoudou Kandé ( – 2008) from the Instrumental Ensemble. According to Kandé, while Minister of the Interior, Fodéba Keïta had in fact asked him to write the lyrics for the anthem some months after independence. The anthem is played on national television at the close of every broadcasting day.

Lyrics

References

External links

Guinea: ''Liberté'' - Audio of the national anthem of Guinea, with information and lyrics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liberte Music of Guinea National symbols of Guinea African anthems Liberty symbols Compositions in F major